To kick off UNESCO's International Year of Chemistry (2011) Joanne reviews three (actually four) chemistry books covering elements to small molecules to very large polymers. She recommends 'The Disappearing Spoon And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements' by Sam Kean, 'Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History' by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson, and 'Giant Molecules: From Nylon to Nanotubes' by Walter Gratzer